As more people prepare to travel out of town this holiday season, experts are recommending homeowners start finding ways to keep their home safe while you're gone.

Kris Losoya, the service manager at Mike’s Plumbing, Electrical and HVAC in Pharr, recommends avoiding excess power use, and using ground fault circuit interrupters.

“[It] protect the person from being shocked by their outdoor Christmas lights, indoor Christmas lights,” Losoya said. “We wanna make sure that the homeowner, kids, are protected from being shocked."

Apart from unplugging electronics, Losoya said it's important to also shut off water valves to prevent any leaks or ruptures.

“We recommend that you have a main shutoff valve so you could shut off the whole house instead of shutting off every individual fixture,” Losoya said.

If you're worried about leaving your home unattended while you're out of town, you can check with your local police department to see if they can keep an eye on it for you.

The Pharr Police Department offers a patrol service to residents.

“They just need to give us the dates, and they'll assign an officer at every shift to be doing house checks on that house,” Pharr police internal affairs detective Laura Renteria said. “If we notice anything suspicious, whoever went prior will be able to note down or notice anything that wasn't there prior, then we'll be able to contact the homeowner.”

Contact your local police department to see if they offer this service.